Temptation
by Illuminet
Summary: Sealed in the Backyard Dimension, Sol has a moment of weakness while fighting Valentine due to his headaches and lingering feelings towards Aria. COMPLETE.


Temptation

Written By Illuminet

Disclaimer: The Guilty Gear Series and characters are property of Arc System Works.

:xXx:

How did he get to this moment? No matter what he wishes, the cold hard facts remain. He killed her once. They hadn't even remembered one another.

"_Hmmm...so, the Corrupted Flame returns. Why? I've handled you once, and can do so again. Or...have you come here to agree with me about your fellow Humans folly when they created us?To seek your rightful due of death that you somehow escaped previously?"_

"_Enough of your babble. Waiting for you here has been heavy enough a problem. Finish it."_

It seems he could do it again. While he was here in the abyss of a soul known as Valentine, the darkness claimed him. He could see the memories she held suppressed within. The beautiful Aria beckoned him. Perhaps since Frederick was not there anymore in presence, he was able to fight her myriad copies that came across slithering shadows, but not without a price. The memories of Frederick still hung there within him. Every time he cut down one, a memory would resurface. The effects of the Backyard did not help either, the vast power it held weighing him down in mind and body yet he still swung his blade with the precision and speed the life of endless fighting brought him in experience.

"_How can this be? You...? A Gear? To think that you had escaped my notice for this long. All the power within that scarred body of your's would go to waste unless I assert my control over you. And to think you were able to also wield a weapon of the Outrage without any side effects...truly, you are unique, Corrupted Flame."_

"_I refuse...you...I'm not your plaything, Justice..."_

"_Impossible...you resist me? I am Justice, the first complete Gear in existence. The Gear who can control all others. Yet your power is not mine to use..."_

"_You think being the first complete Gear makes you some kind of Goddess? You should remember that your creation was based off another Gear before you. One who will not falter to your control."_

"_The Prototype was defective and destroyed before my birth. You...cannot...be...him."_

The struggle ended in his victory. It seemed as if this struggle here and now might be different. His head felt heavy, the magic of the Backyard twisting his perceptions yet still only made him fight harder to keep that focus. Even as Valentine mercilessly struck him with Lucifero. He hacked away at the bodies, showing a rare side of intensity in his attacks.

"_Aria...you...?"_

"_Frederick...so it was you...yes, I can recall it now. The...three of us..."_

"_Wait! I won't let you die! The three of us...? Our Boss! I...remember!"_

"_Frederick...I know it is too late...the power of the Outrage will not allow me to continue living...please, live your own life. For...me...and yourself..."_

"_Don't close your eyes! Aria!"_

"_I...love...you..."_

"_Aria...? ARIA!!"_

It had filled his Gear heart with a crushing feeling. Frederick had loved the woman like no other. Such a strong emotion melted the ice of his own heart. A Gear, who cannot love. Because he was a weapon, as Justice was. All he could provide her distorted soul and body a prayer on blood smeared hands. Pray not to a God, as it was not his belief, but merely to her. By irony did a Gear stop the re-coming of the Messiah of Gears that day. With sheer will did he keep his already teetering focus, hacking at the clones in the likeness of Aria. Finally did they stop coming, relieving a great pressure in his chest and head. He fell to one knee, fatigue engulfing him. His head hung low.

"_What...? Why? My head...this tingling. This pain. Why do I keep seeing her in my head? She's dead."_

"_Sol Badguy...you get it too, it seems. Headaches."_

"_Girl...hmm...you! Aria...no...who the fuck are you?!"_

"_I am Valentine."_

"_Valentine?"_

He can hear the sloshing of the water in this infernal cage of near pitch black. He lifts his head slightly, the tall black boots giving him his answer.

"Another one...?" The pain in his head returns, but the familiar feelings allow him to dull it out. She draws nearer, and he rises to his feet quickly with sword reared back to end it all with a heavy slash. Yet he cannot follow through. Her body cradles against his own, lithe fingers caress the firm corded muscles and rough scar tissue of his chest through the near skin tight shirt he wears.

"_Annoying...eyesore...pervert...weakling..."_

"_Get out of my head...stop showing me these things..."_

"_It feels rough...it feels good...I hate you...I love you..."_

"_Enough...stop this now..."_

"Frederick...that's enough." Her voice is soft, hot breath against his chest in a sultry fashion. His sword arm lowers to his side. What game is she playing now? As if she truly held the complete memories of Aria and could seduce him. He already knew the memories were fragmented between Aria and Justice. Frederick no longer existed, like Aria no longer existed. So why? He could not be compelled to cut down this one as he had the others.

"Enough...? You brought this on yourself. Don't blame me for what happens next." His tone is as indifferent as it ever was. A Gear's lack of emotion. Just as a tool or weapon should be. Yet still he cannot follow through.

"Frederick...so strong. Where does your strength come from?" Her hands rose to his cheeks, his handsome face unmarred by scars unlike the rest of his body had. She looked up at him. One eye of crimson and one eye of gold peered down at the shimmering deep red eyes. Those eyes held Aria's love in their depths. His free arm placed a gentle hold to the back of her head.

"Valentine...Aria...who...? Who are you, girl?" He could not seem to keep his emotions in check, and she did not help the situation, bringing their faces closer together. His arm went to her back, pushing her closer against him. Lips were barely brushing against one another.

"You already know who I am." She spoke softly. Those loving eyes changed. Burning gold, with the smoldering hate of Justice as they formed animal like characteristics. Sharps claws burst through his chest as her arms manifested into the armored appendages of the first complete Gear.

"Justice, then...so...we meet again." His eyes matched her's now. His arm manifested into his Dragon form. Red claws burst through her back. Her golden eyes dulled.

"I thought perhaps I had found your true weakness, Corrupted Flame. But it seems not...and unfortunately...you've found mine." She smiled a pleasant smile at him, seeming quite out of place with her wicked colored eyes. He was confused by this.

"What are you getting at?" The link between her black hole diminished and now they stood in the crimson sea of the Backyard.

"I could have killed you more easily in the Backyard here, your healing powers would not have been enough...but I couldn't make the fatal blow. You...are my weakness. The love she holds for you...prevented me from being the ruthless and unfeeling killing weapon I'm suppose to be." Her words hold true. He sees that the wounds she inflicted on him were deep but not fatal as they would have been with the Backyard being the dimension that it was. He on the other hand, stabbed her in the heart and had she not been a Gear instant death would have followed.

"Impossible...Justice, you...!" He could not explain how deeply this act struck him. Love was surely a powerful emotion to cause such stirrings. Yet he could not be anymore confused. Frederick's memories provided the information, yet the Dragon, the great weapon, could not understand and react in turn. He did know this however: Once more did he fail to protect someone he cared about, the one he cared about the most it seems. Always the weapon that takes life, never protecting life instead.

"Live...Sol Badguy, Corrupted Flame, Guilty Gear...and put him to rest for both our sakes. Your's and our own." She sealed her lips against his in a fierce passionate kiss, their blood mingling in each other's mouths. She faded into nothingness soon after, everything going white around him.

"Aria, Justice, Valentine, whoever you were in the end...sorry, but I'm not sure if I can return. The Backyard...shit, I guess I've overstayed." He sighed deeply in his disappointment. For the first time since the final bout with Justice he felt completely powerless, drained physically and emotionally. The Dragon's power feeds off the stray powers of the Backyard slowly due to his still lingering resistance. But it is enough, and his resistance weakens more and more.

"That would be troublesome if you gave up now..." That Man was a few feet away from him now. Sheer hatred brought his focus back crystal clear if only for a moment. The Dragon's writhing is halted in that moment.

"The asshole shows himself..." He faces his enemy, not allowing the extreme fatigue to overcome him just yet, but he is on the brink. The Dragon is freely eating away at his jumbled mind once more, trying to slip past the control device's influence. In a way he should be thankful, if not for That Man's timely arrival, the Dragon may have just burst completely free. The complete Gear Prototype with it's unrivaled strength could have finally tasted freedom though it would have been held prisoner in the Backyard until it found a way out. Maybe he deserved the outcome, since he let himself give in to Frederick's human emotions too much, temptation paying it's price. But for now, he still had some control. Two enemies meet again, nothing else to stop one another from ripping each other to shreds.

FIN...

Author Note-Another one-shot with focus on Sol's fight with Valentine. Decided to deviate from the canon of the story moment of the original game based very loosely from skimming bits of an Overture comic that showed a focus of Sol remembering Aria briefly as well as Justice from his headaches from Valentine which continue to haunt him to their final confrontation, especially with her looking like Aria after all. Valentine does embrace Sol in the comic and stops him from attacking her, and they seem to just about kiss when Sol notices her eyes turn gold(alluding to Justice). He ends up killing her(not in the fashion of this fic) and she fades away, seeming to wake up in front of a slightly older looking version of herself(possibly the next clone of Valentine who will show up). Granted, this might not be canon as the comic was fan made but it would be interesting to see if the clones of Valentine end up appearing older and coming closer to how Aria might originally look. Anyway, the weakness Sol shows in the brief moment in the comic where Valentine is leaning into him is what drew me to create this fic, while exploring a little bit more deeply what might have been going on in Sol's head as he fought Valentine in her mind. My main hope is that the relationship between Frederick, Aria, and That Man will eventually come to light even further as the story progresses. I apologize if this fic seems very similar to my other Overture fics. I guess I just like the focus of the tragic love Sol has and how his feelings are split between what makes him Human and what makes him Gear. The Human in him understands Aria and the love they shared, but the Gear is detached as a perfect weapon without the need for emotions and by extension, love in particular. This fic could also technically be a prequel to_ What They Became_, though both stories focus are in essence the same_._


End file.
